Government adopts Green Party’s tourism tax proposal, ADPD says

The Maltese government has officially moved to adopt a long-standing proposal by ADPD-The Green Party regarding the allocation of the environmental contribution paid by tourists, the party said in a statement.

Parliamentary Secretary Alison Zerafa Civelli recently acknowledged the need for local councils to receive a direct share of this eco-tax, announcing that 50 cents from the latest increase will be funneled directly into local council coffers. For years, Green Party activists and residents in high-tourism areas have argued that the communities bearing the brunt of mass tourism deserve direct financial support to manage the resulting pressure on local infrastructure and quality of life.

The shift in policy highlights a significant political irony centered in St. Paul’s Bay. In August 2025, ADPD Chairperson and local councillor Sandra Gauci formally introduced a motion requesting that eco-tax revenue generated in the locality stay within the community to address issues like waste management and maintenance.

While the motion eventually passed the council, Labour Party councillors at the local level reportedly met the proposal with hostility, insults, and a negative vote. Now, just months later, the national Labor administration has embraced the same concept as a central pillar of their local government strategy.

While ADPD has welcomed the move as a victory for local democracy, the party remains critical of the implementation. Green Party officials argue that the 50-cent allocation is a modest sum that fails to reflect the true cost of infrastructure wear, noise pollution, and environmental degradation caused by over-tourism.

They suggest that while the government has finally accepted the validity of the Green Party’s vision, the timing of the announcement-coming on the eve of an election-suggests political expediency rather than a total shift in philosophy. For the residents of Malta’s busiest coastal towns, the move represents a long-overdue admission that the current model of mass tourism requires a more sustainable financial balance.

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